polygamy

(S02E08) [Spoiler Warning!] Please don't read the extended version of this review if you have not yet watched this episode. What a great episode. There were so many threads in this episode, it was great to see how fast and furious old and new facts were being hurled out through the dialogue. Oh, poor Benny. How humiliating. I think it's bad enough for any teenager to have his parents find out that he's having sex-- but it has to be especially bad when those parents think not only is he too young, but what he is doing is also a pretty serious sin.

I love looking at episode titles, and of course, obviously this title comes from The Lord's Prayer (which is pretty funny, because Joseph Smith instructs his followers to pray in a different way, and not to use this prayer), indicating that the Lord's will will be done. And that probably means not Bill's will.

(S02E07) Sorry about my absence last week. I was actually in Utah, visiting family who do not have HBO. Things were complicated and I also did not really have an Internet connection before this afternoon, so I couldn't do a review. I have seen last week's episode "The Dating Game," though. I liked Ana, and I thought her friendship with Margene was very sweet. I admired Bill, though, for realizing that maybe it was just lust on his part and ending the relationship. I also admire him for not sleeping with Ana, though can making out with her without two of his wives knowing he is seeing someone really be part of an eternal principle? Just curious about this protocol.

(S02E05) The Wild Thyme Cafe & Bakery.

That's where this installment of Big Love started. With Bill Henrickson's right-hand man and confidant telling him not to keep his frustrations about his personal life all bottled up inside.

Then, as if on cue, a waitress named Ana, in a frilly pink and black uniform descended upon Bill's table and offered a sympathetic ear to listen to his troubles. And she also offered him a sweet piece of pie.

Maybe it was the pie. Maybe it was her uniform. Or her accent. Or maybe, perhaps, Bill was just feeling a bit randy and wanted a distraction. But it was clear that, despite all of the current troubles with which the Henrickson family is coping with its three wives, Bill is in the market for a fourth wife.

(S02E4) Imagine a giant, sticky spider web. No matter where you get stuck -- whether it's over in the upper-left-hand corner, or along the edges on the right -- you're still essentially, trapped in that same large web.

The many disparate storylines that flowed through the fresh episode of Big Love reminded me, for some reason, of a spider web, with the Henrickson family playing the role of the web. No matter what was happening, it all led back to the Henricksons and their three homes sitting in a tidy row.

Thinking of everything sticking to the Henricksons in one way or another helped me get through this very busy episode which was chock-full of stories that went all over the place.

(S02E03) I was reading Meredith's post from last week's episode, along with the comments. Boy y'all must have really loved this episode! Lots of time spent on the compound this week, with Nikki and Bill there for a big family reunion. I was thinking about this because even though the compound parts of the plot line are also not my favorite, it's not because the compound creeps me out. I just prefer the dynamics of the three households. There isn't anything particularly familiar about the compound to me either, though I love the scenery they show of Utah. That is the scenery of my childhood memories.

(S02E2) Poor Barb.

While reeling from cancer treatment years ago, she agreed to let her husband Bill plunge the pair into polygamy, even though she really wasn't keen on the notion.

Then she was publicly humiliated when her family's polygamy became quasi-public and she was disqualified from a state Mother of the Year contest. Ashamed, she withdrew from the world in order to figure out where she fit in her own life. Although she toyed with the idea of leaving the polygamist Henrickson clan, she finally agreed to continue playing "boss wife" because she truly loves Bill, and her sister wives.

Ever watch HBO's Big Love and feel a tad bit envious of the wives? Ever find yourself wishing there was another wife kicking around the house with whom you could talk, whose refrigerator you could raid and with whom you could watch repeats of the Sopranos and curse the series' ending?

Well, a Michigan woman does. In fact, Michele Gazzolo said in a Chicago Tribune essay that she covets the fictional Big Love wives' coziness and says she and her neighbors refer to one another as "sister wives," even though they don't share a hubby. "We found ourselves confessing that plural marriage didn't look so terrible, even in a drama filled with suffering and intrigue," Gazzolo wrote.

(S02E01) I am so happy that Big Love is back! Oh, I have missed them all. Sometimes when Bill is talking on the phone and he tells Barb that she has been humbled, it just brings back my entire Mormon youth. And it also makes me wish she would reach through the phone and slap him. But before I get to that, let me just do a couple of housekeeping announcements: First, I am going to be sharing custody if this review slot with the lovely and talented Meredith O'Brien. So, next week, look for her by-line.

I loved the creepy, thought provoking and exquisitely acted freshman season of HBO's Big Love and am eager to find out what the writers have come up with for the Henrickson family, now that their polygamist lifestyle has been publicly exposed.

Well, fans won't have to wait much longer to find out how Barb handles the humiliation of being disqualified from the state Mother of the Year contest because her husband Bill is also married to two other women, or whether Bill's string of home improvement stores will suffer from the news.

(S01E12) Well, you just knew that the Henrickson family secret was going to be exposed. What makes it so surprising is that they all seem shocked by it. But I guess they deluded themselves into thinking that they were a "normal" family, at least in their own community.

The season finale of Big Love certainly had its share of twists and turns but, at its core, there's no getting around the fact that Bill Henrickson and his hypocritical lifestyle of polygamy was going to get him sooner or later. In a way, you almost felt sorry for Barb, the first wife, for being devastated about being disqualified from the Mother of the Year competition, but she does support the practice of polygamy, which doesn't give her much of a moral ground to stand on.

The battle between Bill and Roman spilled into nearly tragic consequences, with brother Joey's wife Wanda poisoning Roman's psychotic son Alby with antifreeze. In addition, we learned that Wanda was one who poisoned Bill and Joey's father early on in the season, and we also learned that Wanda has a penchant for poisoning people who come across as threatening. Obviously, the war between Bill and Roman is going to get a lot nastier and it looks like someone is going to get seriously hurt. The fact that Bill now has a seat on the U.E.B. Council will lead to Roman taking drastic measures to protect his turf.

(S01E11) It's getting harder and harder to watch this show without feeling more contempt for Bill Henrickson. He is a hypocrite to the nth degree--he fancies himself as a pious and moral man who wants to become a benefactor to others, but he also is a lying sack of s**t who can't deal with the truth about himself.

He gets all gooey over being invited to become a member of the Salt Lake Leadership League, where it's nothing more than a club of backslappers and gladhanders who help each others' businesses get some breaks. (Not that there's anything wrong with that!) However, no matter how hard Bill tries to convince his friends and families that his membership will be a good thing, he learns that his polygamist lifestyle will only bring unwanted scrutiny and shame to himself and his families. He then sheepishly pulls out of the running after watching an old tape of himself speaking of the evils of the compound and polygamy. A hypocrite to the nth degree!

(S01E10) "Acceptance" and "love" were two major themes of this latest episode. Margene, feeling a bit unwanted and unappreciated, is having thoughts of leaving the Henrickson home(s) and heading out on her own, mostly due to the fact that she was accepted into the family by a 2-1 vote and not unanimously, with Nicki casting the dissenting vote. One definitely gets the feeling that she is still maturing and married Bill and had two babies before she knew it, and at 23 years of age and a polygamist, it could be that she still needs time to grow and find herself.

We are introduced to Barb's sister Cindy, who is obviously disapproving of Barb's situation and is doing all she can to ingratiate herself into the family so she can "educate" the kids about "choosing the right path" and not becoming like their parents. Her involvement leads to a huge scene when she enters into Barb's home and Nicki angrily confronting Cindy and throwing her out. It'll be interesting to see if Cindy continues trying to influence Ben, Sarah, and Teenie away from acceptance of their parents' lifestyle.

(S01E09) Paranoia. Deceit. Anger. Seems like just another "normal" day in the Henrickson household(s). Nicki finally tells Bill about her massive credit card debt, but chooses to do it after she and her husband have sex. (I guess breaking bad news to your partner after great sex doesn't make it easier to take,)

Bill obviously is pissed off, especially since he and his tormentor Roman Grant have come to some sort of agreement to settle their financial dispute and fresh on the heels of a big deal to open a third Henrickson's Home Plus store (which he later loses out on). Nicki fears that she will be thrown out of the house, and Bill's attitude toward her plays on her paranoia.

Bill's friend, business partner, and fellow polygamist Don Embry is ready to take on wife number 4, and the Henrickson's decide to have a lavish barbecure for the future Betty Embry. Bill spends thousands of bucks on lobsters imported from Maine for the occasion (they eat lobster in Utah?), but later the plans are dashed when Don's three wives blackball Betty and vote her down. Margene has been acting paranoid about the vote for her to join the Henrickson family, and learned that she "won" by a 2-1 majority. She is constantly freaking out over who voted against her, and she can certainly relate to Betty.

(S01E07) Bill Henrickson wasn't kidding when he told his first wife Barb in bed at the end of last night's episode, "Everything is spinning out of control." Talk about an understatement!

His other two wives Nikki and Margene are indulging in behavior that Barb feels will draw unwanted scrutiny to their family unit. Margene seems to be increasingly desperate for attention and her very-forward neighbor Pam is showing up any time, anywhere. (Think Marie Barone in Everybody Loves Raymond.)

Nikki is battling with her own issues, including her mounting credit card debt ($58,000 and counting) and her jealousy over Barb getting the most attention from Bill. It also appears that her religious beliefs are being called into question, whether from some very annoying missionaries (who would even allow these knuckleheads onto their property a second time?) or her own father, the cunning Roman Grant.

Speaking of Roman, his battle with Bill over his expected "tithing" from the Home Plus stores is getting nastier and could explode into violence before long. Roman's minions end up bulldozing the homes of Bill's family, and they end up in a fleabag motel. To top things off, if Bill's brother Joey ends up going off the deep end, his wife Wanda is going to hold Bill responsible.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, HBO likes Big Love enough to bring it back for a second season. The series is about a polygamist family consisting of a husband, three wives, and seven children (and at least one wife wants another child).

The viewership for Big Love hasn't been impressive, with about 50% of Sopranos' viewers not sticking around for the show. It has been averaging about 4 million viewers each Sunday night. Those numbers are comparable to HBO's Deadwood.

Season two of Big Love begins filming in August.